David Quinn: This attack on confession is a threat to all religions

EIGHT years ago, the US State of Maryland considered passing a law that would have required priests to break the seal of confession if the sin of child abuse was made known to them via the sacrament of confession.

EIGHT years ago, the US State of Maryland considered passing a law that would have required priests to break the seal of confession if the sin of child abuse was made known to them via the sacrament of confession.

During the previous year, 2002, the Catholic Church in America had been convulsed by the child-abuse scandals in much the same way that the church here has repeatedly been convulsed.

This set the scene for politicians in a number of states (New Hampshire and Connecticut were two others) to demand the passage of a law requiring the breaking of the seal of confession -- its absolute guarantee of privacy.

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